King Solomon Hotel Batumi

The food was pretty tasty, although we didn't get a buffet at every meal and a worker served us instead. There's no pool, gym, or anything like that. We were five people and asked for a family room. The staff first wanted to put us in two separate rooms nearby. After discussing it with the manager, they gave us two rooms joined by a shared door. The room itself was nice enough, nothing special. We had only four pillows and two blankets; there were two more pillows in the closet, but no bedding for them. The bathroom smelled like sewage, so we covered the source with a towel. The hotel also didn't seem clean, and it didn't look like our room had been cleaned before we arrived. That's just what happened to us. It may be different for you.

We chose this hotel mainly for the kosher breakfast, and there are a few real positives. The room was spacious and clean, the bed was comfortable, and the shower drained properly without flooding the bathroom. They left two free bottles of water each day, the Wi-Fi was good, and check-in and checkout each took about two minutes. The synagogue is large, with around 30 people attending prayers on some days. The dairy restaurant was fantastic and reasonably priced. There was no casino in the King Solomon, which suited us, since every other hotel has one. Sleep was another story. Booking advertises soundproof walls, but the doors and windows weren't soundproof. Traffic, people yelling in the hall, noisy pipes, and construction woke us at 6 a.m. The sea view was there, though an empty lot, buildings, and construction between us and the water spoiled it. The balcony was big but not very clean, and the cleaner left a dirty rag on the bedside table. That was gross. Breakfast was mediocre at best. They put out a can of the cheapest Elite powdered coffee, then charged extra for the "real" coffee, which wasn't good either. When I complained, the waitress showed me a tin of powdered Turkish coffee to mix with hot water and told me, "drink that." I don't know why they were so cheap. Dinner was okay, not great, with a very limited selection, though I expected that from a kosher hotel outside Israel. The rude waitress, bad coffee, and noisy room made the stay a lot worse. They also take the no food from the dining room rule very seriously. One morning a waiter scolded people at the next table and made them take "stolen" bread rolls out of their bags. It was embarrassing and unpleasant. The price was very reasonable, but I'd stay elsewhere unless kosher breakfast and the shul are especially important to you. There are three kosher restaurants near Europa Square, a quieter part of town, and lots of hotels around. PS, no casino at the King Solomon was a plus for us.

I only stayed because I arrived at midnight. The place was awful and didn't even meet the standard of furnished apartments. There were mosquitoes in our room, it smelled dusty, and hygiene was poor. The food wasn't appealing at all, and they served Nescafé instead of coffee.

The restaurant was the highlight for me, a top quality five star place and the best kosher restaurant I've tried in a long time. The hotel impressed me too, with professional staff, a luxurious feel inside, and really good rooms. Excellent stay!